Kristin's Testimony about Grace Chicago

When I first moved to Chicago, I embraced the cliché of a small town girl moving to the big city. I rented an apartment downtown and fell asleep to the twinkling lights of the sears tower. I worked in an industry where the luxury lifestyle was praised and I started to emulate the materialism of my peers. I felt myself falling astray and sparkle of city quickly wore out.

When I walked into Grace Chicago Church for the first time two years ago, I immediately felt more grounded. I was comforted by the small community within a giant city. I saw families with beautiful children running up and down the halls. A tight knit group of people were conversing over coffee. My naïve heart felt that I would not fit in as a single woman. However, the Holy Spirit was at work that day. I walked into the room for the service and sat in the second row by myself. I enjoyed the liturgical style of worship and the inspirational, contemporary hymns.  After the service, Sonja turned around and said hello. She then introduced me to Allison. We quickly bonded over similar interests and beliefs. That Sunday I also attend the New Comers lunch. I was thankful that Grace provided a meal for me and I had the opportunity to ask questions directly to pastor Bob and Caleb. I also met Lisa who welcomed me into her home for game night. It is safe to say that I felt accepted and loved on my first Sunday with Grace. 

Over the next couple of months, I became more involved with the social activities of church. I attended the bread-making class, women’s meet ups, and the newly formed Lakeview community group. I began to get to know people in the church and felt inspired by the contributions of everyone on Sunday mornings. From the breakfast table to the communion table, to the printing of the bulletins, and the writing of the prayers of the people, to the liturgical message and readings, I could see that this community was collectively seeking the good of the city. I knew I wanted to be more involved.

One Sunday, Holly Demoray served on the Hospitality and Welcome Team and reached out to me. She found out I worked at the Merchandise Mart and connected me to Madeline Tuiller who also worked at the Mart. We started getting coffee on Fridays before work. Through simple conversations with another believer over coffee, I slowly felt my vocational life being redeemed and I could see God’s handiwork over every square inch of creation. I felt more connected to the body of the church and I wanted to help connect others too. Caleb recognized this desire within me and encouraged me to join the Hospitality and Welcome team. Speaking in front of church was not easy, but I was willing to do it knowing that I could bless newcomers in the same way that I was. 

As time went on, I found myself naturally integrating with the children of grace. I attended the first church camping trip and had so much fun laughing, playing games, and singing in the beautiful outdoors of Michigan. That trip inspired me to teach Sunday school and to attend the camping trip the following year. Only the latter I regret.  If you don’t know the story, I think William Lovell does the best retelling. That night after I had fractured my nose playing capture the flag, I was sitting around the campfire with tissues shoved up my nose and a strong headache. Considering the circumstances, I was in poor shape, but I realized there was no place I would rather be because I was surrounded by people that genuinely loved and cared for me. 

I want to thank Grace Chicago Church for creating a home and family for this small town girl. I want to thank the church for helping me grow stronger in my faith and helping me recognize God’s goodness throughout this big city. I wish I could mention and thank everyone of by name. I encourage those new to the community to invest fully in the community of Grace Chicago Church.  Please know that God’s hand is at work here with your interactions with one another. Keep sharing your stories. Blessings!

Sin and Glory | Caleb Schut

It is July 4th, 11:22pm. I am riding through a war zone on a light blue three speed city bike. I un-dock the city bike on the south side of Chicago, at the corner of Halsted and 18th, and fasten my white-shell helmet. There is glass on the street, and a group standing around outside. 40s are scattered across the street and the group looks at one another confused. I think there may have been a fight. I put my bike in 2nd gear so I can accelerate quickly and speed down Halsted. Flashes of light bounce off of the haze that is covering Chicago. Fireworks explode behind me. I pretend I am in a battle and shift into 1st.

A group of young men are on the street to my left. They are shooting off fireworks and drinking. I pray for the emergency room workers, sipping their red bulls, guzzling their coffee late into the night. I slow down for a light and then fly through it when I see no traffic.

An enormous clap startles me. I hear the blasts but I can’t see the fireworks. There is a young man on a bike in the bike lane ahead of me. I am coming up on him quick. He is in no hurry. He looks like he has nowhere to be at 11:30 on a Tuesday night. Nowhere is the last place you want to be going on a Tuesday night.

A woman in an American flag tank top looks at her phone and then down the road. She shrugs to a man and rolls her eyes. It is the eye roll you make when your Uber has just turned down the wrong road, when it is supposed to follow the grey line to you.

A Green Nissan Leaf turns right onto Jackson and I follow it. I try to keep up, but it whirs ahead. Chicago keep its homeless on Jackson. They are mainly elderly black men. Some young. Some white. I catch a few greens and then hit a red and stop. Some of the people who will live on Jackson tonight are already asleep. They look almost peaceful. Some are still sorting out how they’re going to get through the night.

It’s July 4th and we are all celebrating our independence. But on this bike ride through the south side, what is so clear is not independence but dependence. Me upon the sobriety of the people zipping by in cars. The lady upon her Uber finally making it to her. The Jackson Street sleepers upon their bodies making it through the night, dependent upon a society that has let them down or has refused to give them another chance. 

I preached on Paul a couple weeks ago. I try to avoid Paul. I leave him for the real theologians. But that Romans 7 tongue twister about doing what you do though you don’t want to do it, was calling my name. Paul says that there is a war and that it is raging. It isn’t a war between Jews and Gentiles. It isn’t between us and them. It’s not between right and wrong or left and right. It is between law and grace. It is an internal war between I-can-do-it-on-my-own-independence and come-to-me all-who-are-weary-dependence. It is between you-get-what-you-deserve and find-rest for-your-souls.

It is a war between sin on the one hand, which leaves people left to fend for themselves, and glory on the other.

Law was the only side that people took in Jesus’ day. It was the only language they spoke. So it was confusing when he explained his law to them: “My law? My yoke? Oh, my yoke is as easy as strawberry pie. My burden? Light. Well, maybe not for the brilliant and #blessed among you. But for the child-like…my burden is light as a croissant. If you are weary, tired, and heavy laden, then come to me. I will give you rest.”

Jesus lifts up the lowly and humbles the haughty. Those loyal to the law stumble on his words. Those who know their need for grace find it in over-supply.  Jesus walks through streets of law and introduces people to grace. Law leads to sin. Grace leads to glory.

It is law and grace that I am riding though on July 4th.

Law and Grace. Sin and Glory.

It is sin that has the man with white hair and an aging back living on the street tonight. In the morning, people who slept in warm soft beds will pass him with stern cold eyes.  Yet he will return their glazed indifference with a kind smile and say, “God bless.” And that is glory.

It is sin that brings the woman hit by a drunk driver into the emergency room early on the morning of the 5th, but it is glory that a nurse running on the fumes of a red-bull has enough kindness to sit patiently with her, to hold her hand.

It is sin that lashes open the skin of Christ and sin that he carries to the cross, but it is glory that he comforts those mourning and forgives those who hate. Sin takes away his life, but glory startles him awake on the third day.

It is sin and glory that I am riding through on the dark streets of July 4th. Over this weekend 100 will be shot and 15 will be killed in Chicago. What glory is there? I do not know.

It is sin and glory that all of us are riding through. Law and Grace locked into a war raging all around us. Sin and law pinning people to the ground, grace and glory grabbing them by the arms to lift them up, to offer them some rest for their souls.

Something about the bombs bursting in air on this bike ride has me acutely aware of the war on these streets. Tonight, I am Paul Revere riding like my life depends on it shouting into darkness the words of the Apostle Paul, “Who can deliver us from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” 

Pentecost. It's a BIG deal. | Caleb Schut

This Sunday is Pentecost. Unlike Christmas and Easter, however, you’ll find no displays in Target. No chocolate filled flames, no marshmallow tongues of fire or Pentecost-Red bead necklaces. And while I do not lament that Hallmark hasn’t sunk its demdaco angel claws into another Christian holiday, I do regret that Pentecost gets short shrift. Maybe it is a solidarity borne out of my own place as the youngest of three kids.

Whatever my reasons, I think you should cook up a Pentecost ham and invite the family over. You should pop the cork on the fine champagne and celebrate a holiday that has to be number 3 on the list of the most important Christian holidays. And if you are a C&E-er (someone who goes to Church on Christmas and Easter only) you should consider becoming a C&E&P-er.

Pentecost is THAT big of a deal.

It’s summer’s version of Christmas. The Christmas of the Spirit.

Christmas, of course, is God becoming a person. Christmas means God hasn’t washed his hands of us. Love came down at Christmas as the song goes.

But without Pentecost, we wouldn’t be celebrating it.  At Pentecost, the living Christ (shout out to our #2 holiday, Easter) continues His ministry by sending the Spirit (the same Spirit that was in Christ) to a group of people that, without the Spirit, are as helpless as a water buffalo on a pogo stick. Pre-Pentecost, the followers of Jesus are uninspiring to say the least. Even after they see the resurrected Jesus, they seem apathetic (Matthew 28:17 records the brilliant faith of the disciples right before Jesus gives the Great Commission, “some worshipped him. But others doubted.” Inspiring.) John reports that about half of them take up fishing again. They are a huddled mass of insecurity without Jesus leading them.

“I will not leave you orphaned,” Jesus had said. “I will come to you," He said. At Pentecost He does just that. Hallelujah. Pentecost is the Christmas of the Spirit. We washed our hands of God in order to crucify Him, but at Pentecost He confirms that He still hasn’t washed his hands of us. In a moment of fire and wind, the sorry crew of believers worried about whether they had peaked already, are suddenly transformed into a group that, in this moment at least, couldn't care less about themselves.

They are no longer paralyzed by the fear of following in the footsteps of their crucified Christ, and in fact they fling open the doors and push back the windows to allow the light of the sun to penetrate the darkened room and to allow the light of the world to illumine the world that Christ is yet pursuing. Love came down at Christmas. Hope becomes possible at Pentecost. Like Forrest Gump running out of his leg-gear, the church is set free in the Spirit to pursue the future that was made possible through Christ. 

So, fire up the grill. Put on your Sunday best. Take hope. Christ has not left us as orphans. He has come to us.

It's a BIG deal. 

TOP TEN CHRISTIAN HOLY DAYS*

1. Christmas
2. Easter
3. Pentecost
4. Good Friday
5. Transfiguration Sunday
6. Ash Wednesday
7. Ascension Sunday
8. Trinity Sunday
9. All Saint’s Day
10. Palm Sunday

*I just made this list up. It's arbitrary.

“The Spirit of God is the guarantor of what has been granted to us-granted with that ‘not yet’ and that ‘already’ which are always the character of a promise.”

— Justo Gonzalez

“What God promises from eternity, the Spirit enables through time.”

— Thomas Oden

The Gardener | Caleb Schut

She supposes that he is the gardener.

Mary supposes that the man she turns and sees strolling through this cemetery garden is there to pick weeds and prune olive trees. She thinks he is the gardener.

The Bible begins this way: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

John’s gospel begins this way: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John’s gospel makes the point, over and over again, that something which started during creation, at the foundation of the world, found its fulfillment in Christ.

The creation story of Genesis ends in a garden. Adam and Eve are hiding. And God is searching for them. Adam, where are you? Eve, why are you hiding?

And so, John’s story ends too, in a garden. His story ends with a woman searching for God. Where is he? Where have you put him? Tell me where he is.

We have come full circle, and we find ourselves back in the garden. Mary supposes that the man she sees that Easter morning is the gardener.  And notice, Jesus does not correct her. John does not correct her, either. Because John wants us to see that she is not wrong. The gardener in Genesis searching for Adam and for Eve is one and same as the gardener that is sought out and found here by Mary.

On that morning, the story that began in a garden in Genesis finds its fulfillment in a garden outside of Jerusalem, where the woman who searches for Christ, finds him. Through tear-blinded eyes, she calls him the gardener, and she is not wrong. The same God that sought Adam and Eve in the Garden in Genesis is the God who has made it possible for all humanity to come out of their hiding.

“Mary,” Jesus says. 

And at the sound of her voice, she realizes that the gardener is none other than her beloved teacher, her friend.

As we come to this table, we hear his same voice. Where are you? Why are you hiding? We hear him speak our names, “Mary. Kathy. Jason. Jess.” If we can muster up some fraction of the curiosity and hope that caused Mary to go to the tomb on Easter morning, then we too can hear the voice of the gardener call our names and invite us to come out of hiding. We too can meet the risen Lord Jesus. 

Prayers of the People

God our Father, by raising Christ your Son you conquered the power of death
and opened for us the way to eternal life. Let our celebration today raise us up and renew our lives by the Spirit that is within us. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

We pray, O God, that you would look with mercy on those who today are fleeing from danger, homeless and hungry. Bless those who work to bring them relief; inspire generosity and compassion in all our hearts; and guide the nations of the world towards that day when all will rejoice in your Kingdom of justice and of peace. 

We pray, Lord, for boldness to live as those confident in your resurrection. May we proclaim new life through our daily interactions with others. We ask that we can be your hands and feet each day to those who are eager to have your word displayed to them.

Lord in your mercy....Hear our prayer

Maundy Thursday | Caleb Schut

Maundy Thursday is a Christian holiday celebrated on the Thursday before Easter. It commemorates the washing of the disciples feet by Jesus. The word Maundy traces back to the Latin word mandatum (see mandate in there?), which means command. In John's account of how the last few days of Jesus' life go, the disciples gather for a final meal with Jesus, and at this meal Jesus washes their feet. 

After washing their feet, the meal begins. At some point in the dinner, Jesus identifies Judas as the disciple who will betray him. After Judas leaves the group, Jesus tries to prepare the disciples for what is coming next. "I will only be with you a little longer," Jesus says. Then, as a final command, he says: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” This command is where the phrase for Maundy comes from. It is Jesus parting command...If you remember anything I've told you, REMEMBER THIS!

To love has become such an obvious sentiment. Love trends as a hashtag and is plastered across t-shirts and bumpers. Perhaps some credit for that ought to go to the man who commanded it so emphatically. Maundy Thursday is a day to remember exactly what it means to love "as I have loved you." 

Jesus Washes His Disciples Feet | John 13:1-17

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” 

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 

For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Dry Bones | Caleb Schut

Ezekiel 31:1-14 | Dry Bones

Part 1. Death. 

Ezekiel is placed in a valley of dry bones. Very dry bones. They are the house of Israel. God asks Ezekiel, "Can these bones live?" The answer seems obvious. No, they cannot. They are bones, scattered through a valley. The context for this vision is that Judah has been sacked by Babylon. The story of God's people, which began with Abraham, seems to have run its full course. Israel was destroyed in 722 BC. Judah is now destroyed in 586 BC. What is left is a valley of bones. 

The image of bones reminded me of a trip I took to Rwanda. We visited a museum that tells the story of the Rwanda Genocide. In 1994 over 100 days, nearly 900,000 people were slaughtered. Our student group visited a site where room after room was full of bones. Skulls sat on shelves like books. On the ride back to our hostel that night, one of the students said to me, "tell me about your God after that." It was a jarring question. I had been pondering the same sort of dilemma she had. I was speechless. 

I imagine this is how Judah is feeling. "Tell me about your God, now," Babylon seemed to say with their swords and dominance. "Tell me about how great your God is, about His steadfast love, about how His mercies are new every morning." Judah is hopeless and they need a vision. They need to believe that God is still God.

Part 2. Prophesy.

"Prophesy to the bones," God instructs Ezekiel. He begins to speak to them and as the Word of God goes forth from him mouth, the bones begin to move. The text tells us what it sounds like...they begin to rattle. Soon they are coming together. Bones that were broken in the heat of battle are mended and put together. Wounds that were caused by the sword are healed by the word. The Word of God goes forth and reverses the effects of violence. God's word breaks the cycle of violence. In Ezekiel's vision, God's people are restored, not by sword or strength, but by the Word of the Lord.

Next, Ezekiel prophesies to the Spirit. The Spirit of God (or breath of God) moves in the dusty remains and brings life. Just as the spirit breathed life into dust at creation, so God's spirit brings life again. The God that created in the beginning would create once again. God is not a static deity stuck in the past. He is the living God whose breath would continue to create and would constitute a people once again. 

Part 3. Life.

God causes life to flow into the bones of Judah. There had been no cause for hope. What is more helpless than a pile of dry bones? Nothing. Judah is done. The people of God, their story, is finished. They are like the disciples on the evening before the resurrection. They are in some dark room. The windows and doors are locked. They keep their voices down in order to not be discovered. Their head rests in their hands. There is no reason to be optimistic. But God's stubborn love, his steadfast faithfulness is more resilient even than death. God had made a covenant promise to Judah, that they would be his people and dad-gum-it if God wasn't going to see His promise through. Even if that meant breathing life into dry bones. Even if that meant making the Word become flesh and dwelling among us. Even if that meant taking on the form of a slave and becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. God's steadfast love had to be satisfied. 

God's love does not give up on His people. Can these bones live? The answer is no...unless there is a resurrection. Unless God can create again. If God can make life come out of death, then perhaps, yes.  Perhaps these bones can live. 

Prayers of the People

God of peace, we continue to pray for those affected by the violence in our city.  For those who have lost friends or family members we ask that you would comfort your people and provide your presence to them.  We ask that people would react with love and not with revenge in the wake of tragedies.  We thank you for organizations who work every day to eliminate gun violence in our city. May they continue to be beacons of hope in communities who need your transforming presence. 

Discerner of hearts, you look beneath our outward appearance and see your image in each of us. Banish in us the blindness that prevents us from recognizing truth,
so we may see the world through your eyes and with the compassion of Jesus Christ who redeems us.

Lord in your mercy...Hear our Prayer

1st Sunday of Lent | Chuck DeGroat

God is good.

You are enough.

You can come out of hiding.

But the serpent said to the woman, “you will not die! For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. -Genesis

On Sunday, our guest preacher, Professor Chuck DeGroat, reflected on how Lent is often used as a time for Christians to hone in on how sinful and dirty they are. We give up ice cream or alcohol or coffee as a small token of the sort of self-control that would make us better human beings. Ash Wednesday begins Lent with its token phrase: from dust you were made and to dust you shall return. Lent is sometimes perceived as a time to grovel at God’s feet and hope He finds our sacrifices enough. Chuck encouraged us to think of it differently by approaching the story of Genesis differently. 

What if Adam and Eve were not motivated by pride, but by shame? What if the context for sin’s grand entrance into the world wasn’t that Adam and Eve pride-fully believed that they ought to be God? What if sin crept into our world through the serpent’s hiss that convinced Eve that she was not enough? In the garden, Adam and Eve listen to the voice that tells them that they need to know more; they need to be more than they are; they are not enough.

Adam and Eve believe this lie. They act on this shame-filled insecurity by eating the fruit and they immediately go into hiding. The belief that they are not enough drives them into hiding. “We all hide,” Chuck said. Each of us hides and disguises ourselves. Anger, alcohol, food, sex, and addictions of all kinds serve as hiding places. In our hiding, we often expect God to come searching for us with a scowl and heavy footsteps. Chuck suggested that when God comes walking through the garden in search of Adam and Eve, He does not come in wrath. He searches earnestly, wanting Adam and Eve to come out of hiding. There are consequences to Adam and Eve’s sin, as there are consequences to our sin. But God does not give up his relentless pursuit of connection with us. He comes in search of Adam and Eve because He loves them. In Christ, God comes in search of a world in hiding. 

Lent invites us to come out of hiding. It invites us to believe that we do not have to be anything more or less than what we are.

During Lent, God asks, Where are you? 

We do not have to lie or hide in shame. 

Here I am. 

Prayers of the People

God who breathes the spirit of life within us, draw out of us the light and life you created.  As we continue our Lenten journey, help us to find our way back to you.  Help us to use our life to reflect your glory and to serve others and your son Jesus did.

We give you thanks for the encouraging word we hear from Andrew, Amy and Irene Fields.  May you continue to bless, encourage, and provide good health to the Fields family as share your good news in Columbia. 

We pray for those who struggle with depression this time of year.  We ask that you would be their refuge in this time is struggle.  Walk before them and beside them so that they may reach out to you on their journey of difficult days.  Help us all to realize that in you there is joy and the promise of lasting peace.

We thank you, God,  for the many ways you strengthen us and reveal your life to us. Grant that your Spirit may overwhelm us more and more, enabling us to be your witnesses in an unhappy world. May your Spirit give us hope for this life and for the life to come.

Lord in your mercy....Hear our prayer

Transfiguration | Bob Reid

The Transfiguration

 “While he was speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the clouds a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him.”-Matthew 17

“I would do anything humanly possible to have you leave this service knowing that you are implicated in the transfiguration of Jesus.”

The Transfiguration of Jesus refers to the occasion on which Jesus climbs to the top of a mountain with Peter, James, and John. While they are at the top of the mountain, Jesus’ appearance is transfigured into a dazzling vision and Elijah and Moses appear alongside of him. The disciples hear the voice of God affirm who Jesus is. It is an odd scene-dramatic and fantastic. It is not a story that I (or most people, I assume) feel personally implicated in. So, when Bob leaned forward and said in earnest, that he hopes that we leave feeling implicated, he had my interest peaked.

What does this bright episode of light and sound mean for me? Bob began by pointing out that for Peter (as evidenced in 2 Peter 1), the Transfiguration was a moment of clarity about Jesus’ identity that gave the disciples and assurance of who Jesus was. In this moment on the mountain, the veil is pulled back on Jesus’ identity and he is revealed in his glory. The event occurs on the Sabbath day in three gospels and on the 8th day (the day of the resurrection) in Luke. The point being that in this moment of transfiguration, things are the way they were meant to be. Alongside of Moses Christ is revealed as the fulfillment of the law. Alongside of Elijah he is the great prophet.

We are invited to participate in transfiguration as well. From glory to glory, Paul says. In Jesus’ transfiguration, the veil is pulled back. For a moment things are the way they are supposed to be. The New Testament talks about our own transfiguration as we are united to Christ. Our union with him transforms us so that it is “no longer I who live, but Christ in me.” There are moments in our lives where the veil is pulled back and we can behold the glory of God in a brother, sister, or enemy. We can see them as they really are. Perhaps there are times when we look in the mirror and realize that the promise spoken over Jesus, “This is my beloved with whom I am well pleased,” is spoken over us.

Prayers of the People

Lord God, We are in need of a glimpse of Jesus who is the truth – the truth that love is stronger than hate; peace is possible; and life can emerge even in the midst of devastation. We pray for that truth to be known:

We are in need of a glimpse of Jesus who is the life; inviting us to follow in his footsteps as he trod the way of love and justice, inviting us to follow him in prayer as he lived out his faith and made You known.

We give thanks for the good news that unfolds in the world as people dream your dreams, follow your nudging, and seek you in the faces they meet each day. Perhaps, O God, it is the only Transfiguration we really need.

Lord God, Renew and restore a vision of care for your creation. Remind us to take what we need and no more. Encourage us in a counter-cultural faithfulness that is not about consumerism. Spur us with new insight and deeper understanding that we may live mindfully each day, conscious of the impact of we do and fail to do.

Draw us to the rhythm of Lent as it unfolds in our midst; a sacred invitation to explore the corners of our soul. Open us to your light that we might see ourselves clearly, with all our fears and faults and faith, with all our desires and dreams and duties. Help us to see our journey as a place of your appearing – that like Peter, James, and John we may come down from the mountain and set one foot in front of the other in your name and for your sake.

Lord in your mercy....Hear our Prayer

Leviticus, really? | Caleb Schut

Leviticus 19

Isn't it odd that we read from a book of laws written a thousands of years ago for a group of semi-nomadic ancient near-eastern tribesmen with the expectation that perhaps this text was relevant and even life-giving? I hope you found it odd. Leviticus is worth reading though, for two reasons (beyond its being in the Bible). First, it is the heart of the Torah. It is 3 of 5 in the collection of books ascribed to Moses. The laws and instructions of Leviticus are what distinguish and set Israel apart. Israelite children often start their biblical education with Leviticus because of its importance. Secondly, Leviticus, at its core, is about a group of people called by God, trying to figure out what it means to be that people. So are we. We look back in order to look forward. 

Leviticus 19 is a unique set of commands placed right at the heart of the book. We'll look at a few of those specific commands, but it is important to note, right off the bat, that Leviticus 19 frames the commands this way: You shall be holy, as I the Lord your God am holy. The list of commands is not given under the auspices of pleasing an angry God by getting on his level. The people of God should be like the God they worship. Each of the subsequent commands tell us something about who God is, they meant something for Israel, and they mean something for us. 

For example: When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather all the gleanings of the harvest.

God: is uniquely generous and his economy prioritizes the poor. 

For Israel: this meant leaving food in the fields and money on the table. Grain was currency, and to leave it in the fields or on the ground was to leave money in the field. It became a rule of thumb for the Israelites that 1/60 of their fields would be left unharvested. This law reminded Israel that they had a legal obligation to leave enough in their fields for those without fields. 

For us: we must live under the authority of God's economy, wherein squeezing every ounce of profit and every drop of energy out of people is not the goal. The dollar is not god. God is uniquely generous and his economy prioritizes the poor and so should ours. 

Another example: The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. You shall not curse the deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.

God: defends those who have no defense.

For Israel: The hired worker/laborer was someone at the bottom of society, possibly with no legal status. They were an undocumented worker, the sort that was regularly taken advantage of. Wages were garnished or payment was held until the next day to get another 12 hours of cheap labor. But God insists that Israel imitate God in his commitment to justice and to those who cannot defends themselves. 

For us: Sometimes it feels like we’ve made so much progress. But we also live in a world that charges exorbitant interest rates on loans to the poor because we know we can get away with it. We take 10% of a hard earned check just to get it cashed, simply because you live in dirt-poor part of town. We live in a world that is far more eager to push lottery tickets than it is to push affordable housing. We allocate resources in ways that lead kids to believe that the only way up is through violence and then we roll our eyes when we see that another one has been shot. And I say “we” not because any of us are directly involved in these decisions or transactions, but because that does not entirely exonerates us.

What does it mean to pay the hired man his wages, to not put stumbling blocks in front of those who have no one to defend them? It means, at least in part, that we dive deeper into our partnership with Breakthrough Urban Ministries. My time spent over in Garfield Park makes me so thankful for Breakthrough, whose social workers make sure that the poor know what resources are available to them. It makes me thankful for their clinic that helps folks navigate insurance and  health care for their families. 

Leviticus 19 is full of commands that tell us about our God. He is generous. His economy prioritizes the poor. He does not act out of fear, but out of love. He defends those who have no defense. He shows no partiality. Be holy, therefore, just like your Father is holy. We have been called and set apart as God’s new community, called by Christ to imitate Him; To be like the God that we worship. 

 

 

 

Prayers of the People

We pray for those struggling with illness. A friend of the church wrestling through a second cancer diagnosis; A friend nearing the end of a struggle with ALS. God of peace and mercy, be near to those who are scared. Be courage to those who face difficult paths. Bring comfort to all afflicted by illness.

We pray for organizations like world relief and others who care and support refugees. As the current admission numbers has drastically been lowered there have been staffing and funding challenges. But most of all we pray the refugees whose lives are in our hands and we pray that our presidential administration would understand the needs of the refugee and those who seek to help.

Loving God, we pray for the unemployed and underemployed. May you open doors and provide opportunities for meaningful and fulfilling work.

Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer

Freedom to Be Real | Bob Reid

Freedom to Be Real | Matthew 5:21-37 | Bob Reid

Last week our reading ended with these remarkable words of Jesus: unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you won’t enter the kingdom of heaven. On the face of it , this seems like NOT very good news. The scribes and the Pharisees were the experts at keeping the law. They had a place in the social, political, and religious hierarchy that gave them authority in matters related to the keeping of the law.  They were seen as moral heavyweights in the community. If what Jesus means is that I have to go the religious leadership ONE better, then don't sign me up. 

But what if exceeds their righteousness actually means a new approach, a fresh approach to understanding what God wants from people regarding righteousness? 

In the homily Bob talked about the way in which Jesus approaches the Law in a radically different way than did the Scribes and Pharisees. In Matthew 5:21 and the verses that follow, Jesus presents a picture of our relationship to the Law that is at once more radical and more life-giving than the Scribes and Pharisees. 

In one important sense, this portion of the Sermon on the Mount can be seen as Jesus’ taking the power away from the Scribes and Pharisees - the power to interpret what counts for righteousness before God And he does it by talking about the Law in a much more radical way than the Scribes and the Pharisees did. When Jesus says "you have heard it said but I say to you" he is saying you have heard it said that righteousness consists in checking the boxes the Scribes and Pharisees check. After they check them they sit down in satisfaction that they are righteous and then they judge those who have not conformed as they have and they call them sinners. Such an approach to keeping the Law is superficial and breeds hypocrisy. Quick aside: Jesus never confronts the Scribes and the Pharisees for doing their job per se but for hypocrisy- for being obsessed with limiting their liability; by being obsessed with outward conformity and not caring about inward realities; by taking an approach to God’s Law that would enable self-righteousness and close the heart to the messiness of loving others as God has loved us. What Jesus does here is to take the way that the Law was interpreted by the religious leaders of his day and suggest that their approach left people imagining that God wanted people to be good and religious and good at being religious. Life is messier and better than that: the Law actually exposes our hearts as roiling and divided, incapable of loving others as God has loved us. What is behind Jesus’ teaching here is the truth that the Law is meant to point beyond itself to the need for a heart that is transformed by God’s love. Jesus' focus on the radical nature of sinfulness here is not meant to make people feel bad because their hearts are crooked and their motives are impure. Rather, he is simply describing how things really are, a reality that people who are good and religious and good at being religious tend to whitewash over. You can manage a certain kind of outward conformity and pass yourself off as a good person but holiness is about being changed by God’s mercy in the depths of our hearts. A righteous relationship to the law is about dealing with things at the radix, or root - Jesus is radical like that. Jesus implies that if you want to explore what righteousness looks like,  quit playing religious games and making other people feel bad about themselves by making it seem that what God wants is for people to be religiously accomplished and outwardly good. 

When Rowan Williams talks about holiness in his excellent little book called Being Disciples he borrows a phrase from an Evelyn Waugh novel where one character says of another: “she was saintly but she wasn’t a saint”.... Williams goes on: the character in question was strict, devout and intense, but the effect that she has on those around her was to make them feel guilty, frustrated and unhappy. In contrast, holy people, those who are saints rather than saintly,  actually make you feel better than you are.  

The pursuit of goodness can be experienced as if you are taking part in a competitive examination in which some people are scoring very well, others are on the borderline, and some are sinking below the line. But the holy person somehow enlarges your world, makes you feel more yourself, opens you up, affirms you. THey are not in competition; they are not saying I have something you haven’t… When I think of the people in my own life that I call holy, who have really made an impact, it’s this that comes across most deeply in them all. These people have made me feel better rather than worse about myself Or rather, not quite that: these are never people who make me feel complacent about myself, far from it; they make me feel that there is hope for my confused and compromised humanity. God is big enough to deal with and work with actual compromised and imperfect people.” 

The supremely holy person is Jesus who makes us feel that no matter how crooked our hearts are that there is hope and there is hope because the law points beyond itself to Jesus who meets us in our mess and says to us that that is exactly where righteousness happens. Righteousness happens when we come to the end of our capacity to be good and give up trying. Then we get about the business of being made new. 

Prayers of the People

We pray for our consistory, pastors and staff of Grace Chicago.  We thank you for the calling you have provided to each of them and the ways you are using them to carry out your mission here in the city and beyond. 

God and Father of the poor, the oppressed, the refugee, and the alien, who inspired these words to be written in our Old Testament, “So you too should love the resident alien, for that is what you were in the land of Egypt”: we invoke the power of the Holy Spirit who inspired those words of Scripture, and the name of Jesus, who descended from a displaced people and was murdered by the state; we ask in Jesus’ name for your Spirit to incline our hearts and the heart of our country towards the needs of refugees. We pray that our nation’s policy towards refugees will always heed the words of Jesus, if you have done it to least of these…. you have done it to me. 

We continue to pray for those who continue to grieve the loss of loved ones.  May you provide comfort and peace to those who grieve and may your love be more evident to them in this difficult time.  

We pray for Nettelhorst School and all Chicago schools.  May you continue to use these institutions to provide an atmosphere that inspires children.  We ask that our systems of government can work together to support, improve and fund the educational needs of all our children. 

Lord in your mercy...Hear our prayer